What are the common left-hand patterns?
A melody needs something under it. The left hand supplies it by playing the harmony in a pattern that repeats every beat or every measure. The chords can stay exactly the same while the pattern changes, and the pattern, called the texture, changes the mood more than the chords do.
| Pattern | What the left hand does | Meter and style |
|---|---|---|
| Block chords | Strikes the chord tones together, on every beat or once a measure; the clearest way to show the harmony, though low, close chords can sound thick | Any meter; hymns, marches, anthems; a good first pattern for reading chord changes |
| Broken chords | Spells the chord out one note at a time, up and down, so the harmony moves without a hard attack | 2/4, 3/4, 4/4; ballads and pop, under a singing melody |
| Alberti bass | Keeps the chord moving as lowest, highest, middle, highest in eighth notes, a quiet pulse under the tune | 2/4, 3/4, 4/4; Classical-era keyboard music |
| Oom-pah | Bass note on the strong beats, chord on the weak ones | 2/4, 4/4; marches, polkas, folk and country |
| Waltz | Bass on beat 1, the chord on beats 2 and 3 | 3/4; waltzes and many folk dances |
| Barcarolle | In compound time, the bass and then two chord notes on each beat | 6/8, 12/8; lullabies and boat songs |
How do you choose a pattern?
Start with the meter, because it rules some patterns out. A waltz is written in 3/4, a barcarolle sits on a beat that divides in three, and an Alberti bass usually sits over a beat that divides in two. Then listen to the melody: a busy tune wants a calm left hand, and a long, slow one can take a moving pattern.
Keep the pattern lighter than the tune. If the left hand starts to draw the ear, thin it out to the bass alone, or the bass and the chord’s fifth. Swapping the texture is also the quickest way to make one piece feel like a different style.